Blood Moon
by A.J Scarlet
Summary: An average, mind-numbing day becomes hell when zombies attack an unsuspecting town. In fear of history repeating itself she risks life and peace of mind to prevent tragedy from touching someone close to her. Her past returns to set her life back on course.
1. Chapter 1

**Blood Moon**

 _Chapter 1: Fuck My Bloody Life_

I was practically glaring daggers at the red traffic light as Jacky bounced up and down my passenger seat reeking of whiskey. Her voice was like nails across a chalkboard as she slurred and shrieked her own rendition of Animals by Maroon 5. That song was seriously being overplayed, granted not as much as Taylor Swift's crap, but I suppose the era of good music died long before my time. Once the light changed to green I gunned my precious Camaro a little too eagerly and made the tires squeal as I turned.

" _Someone_ can't wait to get to work," Jacky giggled.

"This _someone_ can't wait to get away from the smell of liquor to be precise." I rolled my eyes with a sigh as the urge to lecture couldn't be held back for much longer, "Can't believe you were out partying all night."

She blinked exaggeratedly, allowing one of her false eyelashes to fall off, "What's hard to believe? I like to party."

"Damn it, Jacqueline, you're twenty-six with a little girl depending on you. Act like you give a damn about her for once!"

"That's why I have you, wifey!" she immediately wrapped her hands around my bicep and leaned her head against my shoulder.

"Rose isn't my daughter. I don't exactly have the equipment to supply children like that, and I'm not your bloody wife. Can't believe I'm letting you work when you're pissed. You're so getting fired."

Jacky jumped back and I felt her drill her brown eyes on my face, "I'm not mad."

"No pissed as in knackered, smashed," I glanced towards her confused expression. "Drunk you twit," I sighed.

"I'll be fine. Just give me a few minutes to freshen up and no one will notice a thing."

"Sure."

A sudden pang of sadness pricked at my chest as _his_ voice materialized in my head. I had a bad habit of using his favorite word to end stupid conversations. As I looked for a decent parking spot near the enormous mall memories of our adventures together played like an old-timey movie. I found myself curious as to how their lives evolved without me around to complicate their trials and trivial days. Aside from having a train wreck as a roommate my life had been dull, so much so I had grown rather numb to living. On the one hand it was a good thing but on the other I was starving for conflict. My entire life was non-stop battles, suppose it wasn't surprising I would be accustomed to living in war.

The mall was nearly empty, the place hadn't opened yet and we were the lucky few that had to open. Jacky and I went to our separate work places without a word. As I approached the clothes store crazy enough to employ me I deadpanned at the sign. Another dose of monotony to numb me further. I knocked on the clear shutters in hopes the manager was already inside, of course she wasn't.

Twenty-four years old, almost twenty-five, and I was a retail associate with a bad tempter and baby-daddy issues despite not actually being a parent. No way I'd ever become a parent and subjugate a poor soul to a fate as horrible as having to be my offspring. Dramatic much? Perhaps, but there was a perfectly good reason for refusing to procreate and frankly I was not inclined to elaborate. Compared to how I started out, compared to all the potential I possessed, the circumstance I found myself in was grating at my nerves and patience incessantly. I could do so much more, but probably shouldn't.

A cool breeze swept through the hall as the sliding doors opened automatically and I caught the familiar click of heels. I stood up as the manager approached and she smiled apologetically at me, "Sorry. There was a bit of traffic on the way here."

I grit my teeth and smiled, "Understood. Not a big deal."

The winch ground on as the shutters rose and we ducked under to enter the store. I marched quickly towards the back and set my leather jacket in my locker with my bag. The cool air immediately clung to the exposed, tan skin of my arms and back. I regretted not shrugging on a third layer like I usually did. My workplace was very fashion aware so I was constantly nagged for my less-than-runway-worthy wardrobe. Normally I was comfortable with my cotton t-shirts and denim pants, but since I landed the job I was stuck with skin tight leggings and flimsy nylon shirts possibly meant to showcase more of my body than I was comfortable. The hot pink tank top with ladder cut-out on my back was as close to conservative as I could afford, albeit the black leggings with leather trimming wasn't so bad. At least the manager allowed me to wear my usual black boots instead of forcing me to buy some infernal heels.

Wednesday morning dragged on much as expected, nothing but customers returning prior purchases and my manager complaining about the lack of funds we were gathering. Perhaps if the prices weren't so high for such piss poor quality material customers would be returning less merchandise. Of course, not that I could bring that up as the lowly retail associate with zero benefits. Missed were the days when I was capable of doing what I wanted when I bloody well pleased with practically zero consequence. There wasn't a being alive that could get in my way.

"I swear I brought my coupons with me," the middle-aged woman scrounged through her large bag as I stood behind the register. "Do you have any coupons?"

Took quite a bit of effort not to let my expression fall into my resting bitch face, "I don't have any on me. You could try the store's website or looking at coupon websites."

The woman whipped out her smart-phone and her wrinkly, manicured fingers fumbled expertly through the touch screen. "How about this one? The code is ninety-nine twenty-two."

"I have to see what the coupon is for, ma'am."

"It's for thirty percent off."

"Okay but I have to _see_ it myself. Some rules may apply to this coupon."

She sucked her teeth and nearly tossed the phone at me. I ignored the blasted woman and read through the coupon, "Ma'am, this coupon is for online purchases."

"It says in-store right here!"

I heard my teeth grind as my jaw clenched tight, "That's for a different coupon."

"Okay then use that one."

"It expired two days ago."

"Just use the stupid code I gave you and see if it works."

Bitch face commenced, so much for my shining customer service, "The register won't let the code in if the coupon expired. Either use one that hasn't expired or lighten your haul."

"I wouldn't have picked all this if I didn't absolutely need it. Can I speak to your manager?"

 _For the love of Kai! This woman is going to end up mush under my boot if she doesn't check herself!_

Lights started to flicker and suddenly the fire alarm went off. High-pitched wailing pierced the humdrum voices of shoppers as white lights flashed throughout the mall. An automated male's voice instructed everyone to evacuate the building.

"What's going on?" the woman asked.

"Something unpleasant. I suggest you listen to the robotic voice in the sky and get out."

"I don't have time for this! Just use the code already, I'll stick with the dress."

My jaw just about dropped, even in the face of an emergency the woman just needed to buy something. Damn consumerism in the country sure was bad. At that point I didn't particularly care if I had my bitch face on or if I was being rude. I crossed my arms and stepped away from the register as I went to retrieve my things. Despite the emergency lights and sirens I pulled on my jacket and bag as if it were a normal day. However, the moment I stepped back out it was apparent it was anything but normal.

People dragged themselves into the store slowly as the populace out in the halls screamed and ran towards the exits. I got a good look at one of the cumbersome individuals as he seemed to be locked on reaching me. His eyes were pale yellow with a fiery red ring in the outer edge of the iris. The skin was grey, bruised, and even rotting in some parts. Screaming cut through the air within the store and I watched some of the customers get tackled by these slow moving people. They growled and snarled like animals before tearing their teeth into the victims and staining the white tiles red.

 _Zombies?_

I looked back to the decomposing bloke shambling towards me and felt the sudden need to check on Jacky. I knocked the nearest mannequin into the zombie and rushed my way through the rest of the crowd, but they were quicker than expected. As soon as I was in reach one of them gripped my arm. One of her buddies snarled and threw themselves towards me. I ducked under his arms and pulled my captor's arm so I could flip the bitch onto her back. Without really thinking I stomped her face in and felt the skull disintegrate under my boot.

The icy shiver of familiarity shot up my leg to the crown of my head as I stumbled out the store. As I looked around more people were either getting eaten or shambling through the halls mindlessly hunting for prey. A crowd of people stampeded in my direction as my store was closest to the exit.

 _Did Jacky make it out?_

Better judgement would have me evacuate like a good little girl, but there was currently a little girl that could end up orphaned if I didn't make damn sure Jacky survived. Instead I ran towards the escalators, Jacky's store was at the fifth level of the enormous mall in the complete opposite end from where I was. Lovely odds, of course my luck would have it that way. I ran through the halls, leaping over pools of blood and corpses of unfortunate shoppers. In Jacky's condition I highly doubted she made it through the horde of frightened consumers unscathed.

Just as I made it to the corner of the mall with the escalators I stopped in my tracks and pressed my back against a wall. I took a deep breath and peered around the corner at the crowd of idle zombies just standing around like twits. "Fuck my life," I chuckled humorlessly.

Suddenly I felt my phone vibrating in my jacket pocket and answered nearly breathless, "Jacky, where are you?" The whispering and violent coughing in the background at least let me know she wasn't alone.

"I locked myself in a storage room when those _things_ showed up."

"Which one?"

"I- I don't know. I didn't really get a good look at where I was when I got pulled here."

The coughing grew more violent and transformed to pained wheezing, "Who's with you?"

"Uh some security guards and some other people. Some of them were there where it started. They think someone smoked the mall to start this."

"Smoked the mall?"

"Yeah they saw smoke and then people started _eating_ each other."

"Jacky get out of there! It's not safe!" My shouting had drawn a bit of unwanted attention and I saw a few zombies shamble towards my way, others actually started to run with flailing arms. "Peachy," I growled into the phone and started running.

 **1111111111**

 **Okay nobody kill me. Yes I have unfinished stories. Yes I have some explaining to do. Life is life, what can I say? Two crappy retail jobs, part-time nursing major, and two unemployed parents take quite a bit of time from my days. I would be updating every day of my muse allowed. Unfortunately my muse brought this idea up during work and Sarah's own story served as the ignition that started me on my path to this piece of work. Not to say I'm not thinking of my other stories or plan to leave them be because I'm not. Just I need some time to get to them like this little sliver of time I had to write this. Hope you guys still stick around though ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: Mercenaries and Zombies Oh My!_

So I hadn't really brushed up on my fancy Parkour and gymnastic running, but sure as hell seemed like a good time to start! I hadn't a single chance to give the group the slip, and my eyes would flicker surreptitiously to any camera I happened to run by. Last thing I needed was for my pretty face to end up on the news again. If it wasn't for that maniac back in California I wouldn't have- Okay! Not going down _that_ lane again. Instead how about I get those zombies off my back and think of something productive.

One of the bigger stores hadn't lowered their shutters and gave me enough obstacles to maneuver easily. I zipped into the store and the giant crowd followed behind me like rabid One Directions fan-girls. I leaped over racks of clothes and knocked over mannequins any chance I got. Surprisingly some of the buggers actually climbed over display tables! I thought zombies were uncoordinated twits. Still the job got done. The crowd had thinned out considerably and I took off as fast as humanly possible to find a place to take a damn breath.

I slid across the counter of a jewelry kiosk and felt the air burst from my mouth as I landed unceremoniously onto my back. My eyes just locked on to the lights overhead as I tried to make sense of the mess. Jacky mentioned smoke. It was something in the smoke that mutated these people into mindless cannibals.

 _Wow you're shitting me? Same premise as Resident Evil 6. Fuck me, they even_ look _like the zombies in Leon's campaign. So someone had the bright idea to follow through with this concept and make it real?!_

"We're so screwed," I muttered quietly as I listened to the moans and groans of the victims. I sat up and peered over the counter, "And me with no weapons."

Gunshots pierced through the air and sent shivers up my spine. Some of the zombies that wandered aimlessly looked to my direction and I felt my heart nearly stop. Of course, what _really_ scared the ever-loving wits out of me was the bright red Camry speeding towards the kiosk. I jumped over the counter and watched the reckless asshole drive straight into the counter. Glass shattered and alarms went off as the jewelry cases were smashed to bits. In a daze, I found myself gawking at the wreck as zombies started to convene towards the mess.

A bloke with reddish hair buzzed close to his scalp and a worn, black jacket stumbled out of the car toting a handgun. I practically felt the hair at the back of my neck stand on end as his ice blue eyes glossed over me. He lifted his weapon and aimed straight for me, but his gaze was locked on something over my shoulder. Just as I spun around the bullet drilled through the air and right between the eyes of a sneaky zombie.

"If I were you, I'd be running," he said nearly breathless as he straightened his posture.

"Well, good thing you aren't me then," I ran towards him and instinctively took his gloved hand into mine as I led him towards a staff corridor between a few shops.

We closed the heavy double doors behind us and immediately started to barricade boxes against the metal. They pounded against the doors and shook all the boxes in the process, but thankfully there weren't enough zombies to break through. My heart was pounding a mile a minute as I tried to catch my breath and ignored the burning sensation in my chest. Bloody hell being human was such a nuisance.

I glanced at the reckless survivor, _Did this guy just leap off his game cover or something?!_ I chuckled for a moment as I pushed myself off the wall, "Was it necessary to hijack one of the display cars in the mall?"

His lips curled into an eerily familiar smirk dripping with attitude, "Not as necessary as finding an exit. Good luck."

He started to walk off and I rolled my eyes as I fell into step with him, "I'm not leaving, Junior. There's someone I have to find."

"Guess that makes two of us, and the name's Jake not Junior."

"That's nice," I muttered off hand as I led him towards the other end of the hall.

Jake simply laughed to himself as he followed. I slowed down when I spotted the security office and peered at the window cut-out in the wall. The white walls were splattered with blood and an officer sat on the chair lifelessly with his throat torn out. My jaw clenched taut as I recognized the guard. I started to climb through the window, but Jake's quick hands caught my leg just as I set my knee on the counter. A healthy dose of fear ran up my body like an icy shockwave and ended up hitting the top of my head on the window.

"What?!" I growled through my teeth.

"Why are you climbing through the window instead of using the door?"

"Because it's locked and I didn't exactly bring a bobby pin with me."

"The door is made of glass, just break in."

I rolled my eyes and slapped his hand off my thigh, "It'll draw too much attention you twit. Just hold on or move along."

Jake backed up and let me do as I planned. The inside of the cubicle was messier than it seemed at first glance. Visceral fluids and organs stained the floor and I tried to breathe through my mouth to avoid the stench. The wet noises my boots made as I traipsed around the cubicle was unsettling but not unfamiliar. I grabbed the guard's walkie off his uniform and pressed on the speaker button.

"Can anyone hear me, over? This is Neah Rosewood from the security office, over."

After a minute of static I finally heard a reply, "This is officer Jefferson. I have a handful of survivors, some wounded. We are locked in storage room 5B with an unidentified number of hostiles right outside, over."

"Okay, I don't know where that is but I think I can help you guys out. Did firefighters or local police mention an evac point to get to, over?"

"The roof, firefighters are scouting for survivors but I hadn't heard from them in about fifteen minutes since then, over."

 _Shit, of course not. More than likely firefighters aren't trained for this kind of thing._ I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, "Is Jacqueline Wulong with you? over."

"I'm here! I'm right here, Neah! Hurry please!"

"I'm doing my best. Stay safe." I grit my teeth, I knew full well the chances of being safe were second to none.

Normally I wasn't one for encouraging false hope, but I was going to make damn sure the woman survived. Even if I'd have to die for a second time, no one else would go through what I had if I could help it. At least I knew what to expect this time around. Yeah, I'd died and not in the figurative sense. Not fun at all.

I needed a second of figure out exactly what the plan was and I noticed Jake's scrutinizing look. _Okay first thing's first, where in bloody hell is 5B?_

As I unlocked the security office for Jake he strolled in adjusting his gloves, overall oozing with his badass persona the game admittedly tried too hard to emit. Yes he was the son of Albert Wesker and had to live up to that legacy, but for Kai's sake they could've toned down the cheesiness of it all and made him a real product of a fatherless child in a war-torn environment.

"So, she your girlfriend or something?" he asked as he thumbed through a stack of documents.

"What?"

"Hey, no judgement here," he raised his hands in surrender and immediately smirked at the expression on my face.

"No she's my roommate. And she has a daughter so I want to be sure that girl has at least _one_ parent still breathing."

That sobered him up quickly, as expected. "Then what's your plan?"

"Find 5B and bust them out. Simple enough even for a merc to follow, no?"

"Hold on a second, how did you know I was a mercenary?" I deadpanned and eyed the patch on his jacket. "Oh, you're pretty observant. Guessing you're not just a regular civilian then."

I offered only a smirk as I finally found the blasted map of the mall. The general layout wasn't foreign to me, but most the security and staff entrances were, so if I was going to find 5B I'd need the map. Unfortunately I also realized some of said entrances needed codes or staff keys to get access. I snatched a big key ring from the dead officer and kept the walkie stuffed into my jacket pocket.

"Okay well, I have a job to do. Nearest exit is that way so, good luck," I offered a boy scout salute and headed on route to 5B. Until Jake gripped my arm and sighed as if he was fighting with himself.

"I'm not letting you go empty-handed."

 _Uh really?_ I was practically colored pink at the gesture, and thoroughly confused. "What, you're going to help?"

"I lost someone too in this chaos. So I guess we both have people to find."

 _Ah so Jake isn't the only Resident Evil character brought to life, lovely. I really should be less nonchalant about a gaming franchise coming to life, but honestly who the hell cares right now?_ I shrugged and Jake followed me down the hall, "Lost your girlfriend in the crowd?"

"She's not my girlfriend," he snapped. "She just owes me a lot of money." I arched an eyebrow and Jake rolled his eyes, "She's not a client."

"Hey, no judgement here," I smirked. "Still if I was a merc I'd have my employers pay up front."

"That's not how it works."

 _It did with me._

 **2222222222**

 **Sorry for the lack of action. Just couldn't get my muse to chug along quicker. At least I'm updating though. We'll see where this goes.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: I Should Really Try to be Serious, Nah!_

Jake stopped to peer around the corner and I tried very hard not get annoyed, failing with flying colors. I rolled my eyes as he took point and led us down the staff corridors. Yes, I was one of _those_ females that would become agitated when someone protected them. Hey! My whole life I dealt with individuals claiming to lay their lives for my own only for them to turn around and try to end me. I had always been perfectly fine without their help and quite capable of defending my damn self, well not as of late however.

I sighed and caught Jake's less then chuffed expression, "What?"

"Does my protecting you bother you, Princess?" he crossed his arms and tapped the handgun on his bicep.

"As a matter of fact yes. Yes it does, Junior. No one uses these blasted corridors so it's highly unlikely we'll run into a sodding zombie at this very moment. So the stop and peer routine is getting rather old."

"I'm not taking that chance, Honey. These things are sneakier than they look and if they can throw bottles of pop at my head I don't wanna know what else they can do."

"Maybe grow a pair of grasshopper legs and stomp us to death."

Jake blinked a few minutes and sucked his teeth as he turned to keep moving, "Don't be stupid."

Took a bit of effort not to burst out with maniacal laughter, _If only he knew._

He glanced over his shoulder as he marched forward like some big-shot, "Are we even going the right way?"

"According to the map yes. 5B is at the west end of the mall and we're going to have to leave the safety of these corridors to get there."

"Sounds fun."

"Yes, exhilarating indeed."

The corridors were stark white with grey-speckled carpets. Aside from the bloody mess back at the security office the halls were as meticulously neat as ever. Thudding of our boots against the carpeting filled the silence as we walked forward, and it was unnerving. Even after three years of being reduced to a fragile human I still hadn't gotten use to the absence of my high senses. Oh you thought I was normal? Wrong! Quite the contrary, I was a mother fucking freak and very proud of what I was, well most of the time. Other times I was basically afraid of my own shadow. It was like being a spayed tigress lately and I was not amused. Finally we arrived to the exit and Jake halted my steps to crack the door open and assess our situation.

He stepped back with a smirk, "Ladies first."

I arched an eyebrow and stepped forward into an empty hall, save for the torn corpses of shoppers. Glass and mangled display dummies littered the floor. It was eerily quiet and the chill of the functioning AC slipped under my jacket to touch my skin. There wasn't a soul to be seen and I took a deep breath, "This doesn't sit well with me."

"Yeah, either most of the people made it out or everyone's dead."

"Perhaps. So I figure we have about an hour or two before rescue choppers arrive, that is if they are known for superb response times. We better haul ass."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Why else would firefighters make the roof the evacuation point? Unfortunately, if this incident isn't isolated to the mall my best guess we won't see any rescue choppers for about seventy hours."

Jake shot me a thoroughly confused look, "Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"

"Like what?"

"Have you been in situations like this before?"

All I could offer was a smirk and continued to walk forward. I maneuvered quietly away from puddles of blood and bodies. When I spotted the limp forms of children my stomach felt tight and my throat went dry. I wasn't a stranger to deaths of the young, but it never got easier. As we walked forward the sudden twitch of one of the youngsters made my heart hiccup in my chest. My body felt cold and both Jake and I spun slowly to be sure we weren't imagining things.

The body of a boy no older than four started to twitch slightly, then escalated to violent thrashing and unnatural stretching of his belly. _For Kami's sake please don't tell me this child died the way I think he did._

A creature with a shrieking laugh tore through the stomach and emerged six feet tall covered in viscera. The monster laughed as if with pleasure it had managed to desecrate the poor child. Soon the rest of the children began to thrash in a similar fashion and my body went from ice to a raging furnace. I wasn't alone however.

Jake raised his weapon and marched towards the first Rasklapanje as he fired his gun. The bullets had barely any effect on the monster and attempted to grab him. Out of morbid curiosity all I could do was observe. Rasklapanje gripped Jake's face but Jake was stronger and pushed him back far enough to deliver a powerful push-kick. The monster dismantled instantly and sent its limbs after Jake. I looked to the other Rasklapanje as they stalked towards me.

"Lovely," I muttered as I stepped away. "Now how shall I go about this?"

I counted three all together and two just so happened to find me interesting. Normally I wasn't one to abandon a partner, at least not anymore, so running like a chicken wasn't an option. Yeah, if there were a deadly sin I was guilty of Pride would be one of many. I dodged their lazy swings quite easily, supposed their lanky build made fast and precise strikes nearly impossible. As one swung I ducked and swept my leg to their feet. The bugger fell back, however I wasn't too attentive to the second and he knocked me upside the head hard. I fell forward in a daze and rolled away before the Rasklapanje could pin me beneath it.

"We can't fight these things hand-to-hand! They regenerate!"

Jake growled as the lower half of his Rasklapanje spat noxious gas into his face. It gave the monster a moment to reassemble itself and laughed at Jake's face. "You don't say!" he shouted back. "You wouldn't happen to have a grenade handy?"

I ducked under another swing and evaded a severed hand from jumping at my face, "Oh sure, let me just pull one out of my ass."

"I don't care where it comes from just hand it over," Jake quipped as he shot relentlessly at the top half of his monster until it went grey.

A sudden growl erupted from my chest as I ran and jumped to land a hard kick at a Rasklapanje's head, only for the lower half to be completely unfazed and intent on incapacitating me. "Don't waste your ammo on these things. Let's just get the hell away from here!"

"Fine by me!" Jake gripped my hand and ran into the nearest department store.

Wasn't all that difficult to outrun the Rasklapanje, but I needed to catch my breath nonetheless. We found a temporary hiding spot at a men's suit section and I sat down on the floor to slow my racing heartbeat. "How are you on ammo?"

"On the low side."

"I told you so."

"You must have _so many_ friends," he laughed humorlessly as he kept an eye out for more enemies.

"Just a handful really. Why?"

Jake blinked and shook his head dismissively, "We need to find weapons that don't require ammo."

I looked at a black suit hanging by the wall and smirked knowing full well _he_ would wear such attire to one of his infernal meetings, "You could always model them to death."

"Not in a million years," he laughed. "I'm serious. We need to scavenge for something more useful than stupid bow ties."

"Hey! Don't knock on bow ties, they're cool." Jake shot me a deadpan look and I finally stood up with a sigh, "Okay, okay. Well we surely aren't going to find anything useful in the men's section. Maybe we should wander into the kitchen section."

"Seriously?"

"Knives, Genius! Kitchen knives can be lethal."

"Okay, lead the way then."

"Why me? I never come into this store."

"Don't you have like Kitchen radar or something?" I threw the meanest deadpan I could manage and watched the bloke erupt with laughter. "You aren't the only one with lame jokes."

"I can see that. Let's move already." I looked up for any directional signs and pointed down an aisle, "Sign says this way."

We wandered cautiously down the aisles, pretty much ready to bolt at any sign of danger. There were a few zombies standing idly at odd places. Jake and I had to sneak around racks of clothes or hide behind counters like children trying to entertain themselves while mum shopped. Just as the pots and electric devices appropriate for a kitchen were in sight a bloodcurdling scream rang through the store. The scream was nearby, but what chilled me was the voice. A familiar husky tone I hadn't expected to hear calling for someone named Susan.

 **3333333333**

 **Yes another one! Three days in a row. Despite my little episode today I attempted to push on and got this one written out. Not as action packed or humorous as I hoped but at least I'm trying. Sucks to be ill in the head.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Don't Piss Off A Wesker**

His voice rang through the aisles clearly, dread built in my chest like a heavy weight from the familiarity. The zombies were drawn to his voice and Jake tapped me on the shoulder, "Now's our chance!" Jake hurried to find the kitchen knife sets and I followed his lead.

The selfish, heartless, and sadistic part of me wanted the man to just die. He had created monsters that threatened my old friends for years. Clearly had no reservations about attempting to pick up girls too many years younger than him, myself being an example. There wasn't an honorable, selfless, or courageous bone in the man's body, bastard deserved whatever karma had cooking for him. However, my old friends had also awakened a more selfless, heroic part of me I never thought existed and the bloody bitch would't go back to sleep. As he continued to call out for Susan I rolled my eyes and growled just before I took off running towards his voice.

I heard Jake call out to me and I could tell he was running behind me, _thank Kami_. Just as we cleared the bedding section we found a man scampering away from a couple zombies. My grip tightened on the handle of my butcher's knife, and years of training sprung to life. My limbs moved fluidly as I ducked and slashed at the zombies' throats. Followed by powerful kicks to the head they fell back on the ground in spluttering messes of blood. I stuck the knife into their craniums quickly and looked up to stunned, blue eyes.

"J.D, I thought," he stuttered while his eyes followed the way my body moved as I stood up. "You're alive?"

"Frankly Bennett, I'm almost as shocked to see you're still alive as well."

"You have to help me find Susan!" he gripped my hand but Jake immediately took his wrist.

His ice blue eyes looked to me. The stern, inquisitive gleam in Jake's gaze was as demanding as his father's and sent chills surfing along my veins. "You know this guy?"

"Yeah."

Jake rolled his eyes, "Okay where's this Susan?"

"This way!" Bennett ran ahead and we followed.

Looking to Bennett I couldn't help thinking of Jenny, and in turn that trail led past Ray and the gang, and straight to John. My chest tightened a bit and a female's shriek rang in the department store. We all picked up the pace to follow the sound and noticed the group of zombies running into racks of clothes. _Bugger, they spotted her._

A sharp whistle erupted from Jake's lips, and both Bennet and I looked to him like he went insane. "What are you doing?" I said through my teeth,

"No idea. Brace yourself Princess," he smiled as he put up his hands for a battle.

I pushed Bennett behind a counter, "Don't make a sound."

Most of the zombies ran for us and only a few were dead set on hunting Susan, no pun intended. Okay maybe it was intended. Thankfully, despite the fact the bloody monsters could climb and run they were horribly uncoordinated. I ducked and swung around their feeble attempts to nab me. Coagulated blood dripped on my clothes and skin with every strike. Just as a zombie found an opening to bite me on the arm Jake grabbed the collar of his shirt and kicked the bastard clear across the aisle. _I see that C-virus is starting to kick in, lovely._

I had to get to Susan quick. During all my flipping and slashing I managed to herd a handful of zombies behind a large clothes rack and cleared a path. Jake and I rushed forward just in time to witness a young girl trip and a zombie ready to fall on her. Without thinking I jumped and gripped the zombie off the girl. Unfortunately I ended up with the bugger on top of me instead. My butcher's knife ended up right between his eyes. Blood dripped down the blade and off the handle onto my hand. I brushed the corpse off me with a sigh and just took a moment to lay there and catch my breath.

"Susan!" Bennett swept the young girl into his arms with relief. I couldn't help noticing the affection and started to laugh. "What?" he nearly growled.

"Another clone Bennett?"

"How dare you! She's my blood for your information."

I sat up with a start, my face was getting warmer and my voice was caught in my throat, "Wha- who'd let you get _that_ close?"

Bennett rolled his eyes and I finally had a good look at Susan. Susan was much tanner than Bennett and her hair was jet black like mine. She walked towards me with earnest green eyes and a smile, "Thank you."

"Sure," I stood up and noticed Susan scrutinize me for a moment before her eyes grew larger. "What?"

"Nothing," her face flushed pink as she looked between Bennett and I.

 _Oh hell no._ I rolled my eyes, _girl never met her mother apparently._

"You two better head to the roof. That's the evacuation point last I heard."

Bennet sighed, "Good idea. I had already sent an S. O. S. to John. He'll arrive soon."

Though I seemed collected my entire body had tensed and I grit my teeth, "You're on first name basis now?"

"A lot has changed since you've been dea- away. Things are complicated."

"Not my problem. We better go Jake."

Jake laughed humorlessly and looked to Bennett and Susan before he followed after me, "Okay hold on there Neah, if that's really your real name."

"That's the one a gave you."

He gripped my arm and spun me so I could face his stern gaze, "I'd rather know exactly who I'm hanging around. Those moves, you don't learn that in some local self-defense class. What are you, ex-military?"

I tried to pull away but his blasted hold was like a vice making my insides squirm and knot together. "I never asked you to tag along Muller. If your panties get in a bunch just for being around me then you're free to go."

Suddenly his hands moved to my shoulders and he pinned me to the nearest column and his knife pressed to my neck, "How did you know my last name?" his voice was dark and threatening like a snarl. Jake could see the reluctance in my face to answer a single question, so he pressed the knife tighter until he broke skin. I didn't even flinch as I felt the warm tickle of my blood oozing down my chest. "It's not fair you know so much about me and I know nothing about you."

"Life isn't fair mate."

Jake growled as his body tensed then finally backed away, "Fine. Then this is where we go our separate ways. Get lost before I change my mind." He turned his back to me as he waved me away.

I rolled my eyes and did as I was told. Venturing out of the department store I realize I was merely on the second floor. Zombies stood idly in the halls among carnage and shattered glass, clearly they were the type to hunt unless their prey was spotted. Just as I took a step I felt a tug on my jacket and pinned Susan to a wall out of instinct. "What are you doing here?" I said through my teeth.

"Calm down J.D." Bennett pulled me away from his daughter cautiously, "You said make our way to the roof. Well considering you're here I suspect our chances of survival are higher if we stay with you."

"You're suspicions are wrong. You'll get yourself killed around me."

"You're the most powerful being I had ever witnessed. I understand you're a loner but-"

I rolled my eyes as we hid behind the wall, "I'm not powerful anymore. I'm just as defenseless as you are, sort of."

"What are you talking about?"

"Long story short. Those abilities you tried so hard to duplicate are gone. I'm human."

His blue eyes widened as the horror started to settle in, "That's impossible."

"The most powerful being in the planet now is your Jenny. Unfortunately for you she's back in California with the others."

Bennett shook his head then looked down to Susan, "Still, you're a survivor. We're sticking with you."

"Suit yourself mate. I'm not promising we'll make it out of here in one piece."

"Then promise you'll make sure Susan does." I looked to Bennett with narrowed eyes. _Since when did the mad scientist care for anyone besides himself?_ He grabbed my hand tenderly in his and locked eyes with me, "Promise she's going to make it out of this mess. As an old friend."

A chuckle escaped in an airy puff as I rolled my eyes, "Bennett we were never friends. I was just gaining your trust for my own purposes, just as you were if I recall correctly."

"Promise J.D. You wouldn't let a child suffer would you?"

My eyes narrowed and I looked back out towards the zombies, _bloody Ray and his rehabilitation skills,_ "Stay low and stay quiet. This way."


	5. Chapter 5

The click of Bennet's heels set the rhythm of our pace as we stalked the halls quietly. Occasionally there'd be a zombie I had to dispose of quietly, the butcher's knife wasn't going to hold out much longer. Susan clung to my hip the entire time, except for when I had to make a kill. For a toddler in the middle of a nightmare she was surprisingly calm, and her eyes were eerily the spitting image of mine… wait!

My jaw clenched tight as I peered around the corner of a boarded store, "Don't think I didn't realize you didn't say she was your daughter."

"What?"

"You said she was of your blood, not that she was your kid."

"Isn't that what _of my blood_ implies, J.D?"

I looked to him and Susan, "Normally, but you're not normal Dr. Bennett."

He rolled his eyes and sucked his teeth in defiance, "Now really isn't the time."

I hummed noncommittally, he wasn't wrong. Zombies stood idly like drunken twits and there was no way I could get around them without calling attention. My grip on the kitchen knife tightened and I looked to Bennett, "I have to distract them. Once it's clear rush up the escalator and take cover somewhere to wait for me."

He nodded. I took the first zombie in reach down, felt it's cranium cave under my boots and looked to the snarling beasts rushing for me. Wasn't long before they started to tear at my jacket while I dodged their lunges. Bennett and Susan rushed up the escalator like instructed and I had to lose the horde pretty damn quick before they were spotted by something.

Dancing around their hands and teeth was more difficult than anticipated, and grimaced under the slashes tearing up my skin. I could only afford to swipe back with the kitchen knife just to incapacitate them, burying the knife into a skull wasn't exactly smart or efficient at the moment. When a gaping mouth suddenly jumped towards me I did just that. The knife pierced the hard palate of the zombie, blood and saliva spurted onto my face as I was forced to abandon my only weapon. I elbowed another zombie and ducked under the arms as I scrambled for an opening.

Admittedly my breathing was hard and I felt my heart pounding like a caged animal against my chest. _I'm gonna fucking die!_

I spun away from hand, felt the nails drag trenches into my shoulder, and pain quickly blossomed across my face when I collided into a forearm.

"Leon wait!"

Gunshots erupted among the horde and blood splattered onto the air. I felt the clumps of flesh and coagulated blood rain onto me as I struggled with an overweight zombie on top of me. It jerked to the side, fell limp, when a gunshot drilled into its head and looked to steely blue eyes as he hauled me up.

"You alright?"

Ms. Harper quickly jogged to Leon's side, "The Hell was that?"

I had to contain my smirk when he blatantly ignored the nagging woman, "I've been better."

"I bet, you should stick with us. That was more than a close call."

"There's two more upstairs."

"We know." Helena pushed me towards the escalators by my lower back, "Pretty brave to distract the enemies for them, and stupid. Do you have a death wish?"

"Well you did just imply I was stupid so, yeah maybe I do."

Leon chuckled sardonically as he hurried up to the third floor, "Not now guys. We need to focus on getting out of this Hell hole. I always did hate going to the mall."

"Well, it's a decent place to kill time."

He shot a glance with a smile my way and immediately Susan rushed from behind a barista counter and latched on to my leg.

"Mommy!"

"Mommy?"

I rolled my eyes, "It's complicated."

"Indeed," Bennett walked out from the counter with his hands up in surrender. "Nice to see you've made capable friends J.D, as usual."

Susan tugged at my leggins and pointed down the escalators. A crowd larger than the one I dealt with was quickly rushing to secure their next meals.

"No time for explanations, we need to move," Helena rushed ahead and I scooped Susan into my arms.

"Gladly!" Bennett followed behind her and Leon made sure to cover my back.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Yes I have deleted all my stories and left this one up. No I didn't abandon them, I'm just dealing with severe writer's block and decided I'd use this story to try and bulldoze through it. I'm working on my other stories off-site so to really analyze what I'm writing and mending any plot holes and such. This story isn't going to receive the same treatment so I don't expect it to be a work of art. Just thought I'd at least update something. Anyways, hope ya'll are having good days. See ya'll later!**


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